


It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

by Kelkat9



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Haunted Houses, Humor, Romance, scary dolls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 16:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12461247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelkat9/pseuds/Kelkat9
Summary: Where else would the Doctor and Rose be other than investigating a haunted house on Halloween?  Inside an armoire, hiding from carnivorous dolls, they discover something far more emotional and important.





	It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SelenaTerna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelenaTerna/gifts).



> For a prompt by SelenaTerna and inspired by her fic Mine.

 

“It’s not a haunted house,” the Doctor huffed at Rose’s observation as they ducked out of the rain and walked up to the dilapidated Victorian Mansion.  “There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“Gelth,” Rose retorted and tugged her denim jacket against the damp as they climbed up to the rickety wood porch, almost falling through when some of the wood collapsed.  Thunder rumbled ominously in the background.

“Gaseous beings, Rose, not ghosts.”

“Still, Charlie Dickens believed they were; and there’s lots of Earth stories about hauntings.  The kids down the street seemed sure.  That boy, Tim, he was shaking after what he saw in the window.  And his older sister Delilah said the owner died in the house and no one will buy it or go inside.  Something’s off.”

“Not ghosts.  Something else.”

“One day you’re gonna be wrong and I’m going to be here to see it,” she retorted.

The Doctor snorted, although secretly pleased at her declaration. Not that he wanted to be wrong, although he always enjoyed learning something new.  What uplifted him to a state of excitement above and beyond adventure was how Rose wanted to stay with him.

He shouldn’t read too much into it.  After all, she was young and human.  But when she smiled, teased him and challenged his intellect, it set his hearts racing.  He enjoyed their banter as much as the physical contact.  Her compassion and curiosity drove him to be better, to show her the universe even the dark parts.  Although he tried to keep those to a minimum.  Not that she let him.

That was his Rose, brave and fierce.  Which was why they now forged ahead on this latest adventure and he shoved the front door open to the allegedly haunted house.  The hinges creaked and a chilly breeze swirled around him carrying the scent of aged wood and dust. It was followed by an electrical charge that raced across his chest. 

“Plasmic energy.  Fantastic. Now we’re getting some where.  Come on.” He ignored Rose’s sigh as she walked next to him into the murky darkness, past a collapsed sofa with stuffing half pulled out and shattered tables.  A few rats darted into cracks and crevices in plaster walls with wallpaper peeling off.

“Feels haunted.”  Rose shivered.  “Can’t you feel it?  It’s something in the air, a wrongness like it’s pushing us away.”

“Exactly.”  He grasped her hand fingers intertwining with her own.  “It’s an energy signal, a low level telepathic field meant to scare off the natives.”

“But not you.” She beamed at him and bumped up agaisnt his shoulder.  “So what’s it saying then?”

“Humans stay away.”  Rose rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I got that with the whole creepy house interior.  But what for?  And why this house?”

The front door slammed with a bang.  Rose jumped, clinging to the Doctor’s side.  He wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his leather coat. Her heart thudded against his chest and her floral scent mixed with that earthy chemical scent of adrenaline.  His eyes slipped shut as blood rushed low in his body.  Warm, excited, soft Rose was a temptation he would not indulge.

Instead, he focused on the old house.  Walls and roof reacted to the humidity, wood expanding and groaning.  The air in the home, stilled almost as if holding it’s breath, not unlike the Doctor.  He heard no other movement.

“Not haunted?” Rose looked up from where her cheek pressed against his jumper.

“Only if you think the damp weather is a ghost,” he teased.  She slapped his chest playfully and the two continued walking past crumbling ceilings, broken mirrors, moldy paintings and cobwebs floating in the breeze.

“Mind the stairs,” he warned as they climbed the staircase, wood shifting beneath their feet.  On the second floor, they lost the dim streetlight filtering in from outside.  Faded, heavy green velvet curtains still hung over the windows.

“How come these curtains didn’t disintegrate like everything down stairs?” Rose asked.

“Something’s preserving this area.”

“Not very well,” Rose noted with a wrinkled nose as shattered glass crunched beneath her trainers in the long narrow hall with a dirty tattered red carpet.  A clock chimed nine times.  The Doctor peered at chipped white painted door.

“That an invitation then?” Rose asked.

“Close enough.  Stay behind me.” Sonic in hand, the Doctor barely touched the door when it opened with creak.  Light shone through a dirty window.  An old brass framed bed sat in a corner with a dark wood armoire nearby. 

Rose rested her fingertips on his back.  Suddenly red glowing eyes peered at them from a dark corner.  Rose’s breath caught and she clawed at his coat.

“Easy,” he commanded although he didn’t blame Rose and especially not  when the growling and chattering started with, _Fresh Meat_.

“Right, not friendly then,” he said lightly and several deformed porcelain dolls with eyes or limbs missing, their exterior melted or gnawed on scampered out from under the bed and a nearby closet.  He remained calm until they grinned exposing sharp teeth no doll should have.

The door shut and a lock clicked.  “Rose?”

“There’s no where to run.” He didn’t miss the tight slightly strained tone in her voice.  Plan, he needed one and fast until he could discover what these things were.  His glance lit on the armoire.  He backed them toward it.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she muttered.  “I swear if we end up in another dimension fighting a war with Aslan...”

He turned and shoved her in and closed the door behind him, aiming the sonic at the metal lock.  Several thumps and scratches sounded as he and Rose pressed against each other in the tight space.

“What are they?” Rose demanded, arms encircling his waist beneath his coat.

The blue glow of the sonic illuminated the armoire where the Doctor had to duck down to fit.  Nothing else moved in the furniture.  His scans indicated the dolls weren’t organic.

“Remote control.”

“All right, that’s good.” Rose nodded.  “Not that Cannibal Claire out there isn’t going to give me nightmares, but who’s behind it?” 

The Doctor tried several settings to interrupt the signal with no luck.  Rose hugged him tighter and he curled himself around her ignoring the thumps from outside.

“Might have to wait this one out.”

“Yeah?  At least we aren’t in a crypt.”

“In Cardiff,” he finished chuckling and she soon joined him, giggling quietly against his chest, the vibrations warming him.  Despite being bent over and shoved in a cramped armoire, he couldn’t help a certain happiness pumping through him.  He’d figure this out.  He always did but especially with Rose.  He was beginning to see being trapped by an annoying alien as very them.

As her knee nestled between his legs, she giggled again.  “We’re hiding in an armoire from hungry remote controlled dolls in a haunted house on Halloween.”

“Rose, I told you, it’s not haunted.  Just a hide out for someone playing a bit of deadly joke which I’ll sort.”

Even in the dark, he could see a sparkle in her eyes as she looked up at him.  “No worries.  It’s sort of fun, isn’t it?  Us always ducking away to plan how to defeat the sharp toothed whatevers.”  His hearts stuttered as one of her hands dipped lower, resting on his bum.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Yeah.” She squeezed his bum.  “Quite nice.  I’d give you Ten out of Ten Earth standard.”

He slipped his hands down and tucked his sonic in her jeans pocket before returning the favor.  He swallowed hard at how her voluptuous round arse fit in his palms perfectly.  Her breath caught and she squeezed his bum tighter. 

“Yes, definitely top notch arse,” His voice strained. 

“Doctor?” The husky quality of her voice broke through his reserve and control.  Or maybe it was the proximity and his hands cupping her arse in a way he fantasized about.  No, that wasn’t the truth.  His fantasy might have had his hands cupping other soft curvy parts.

“Yes, Rose.”

“I just want you to know...no matter what, missing twelve months, killer dolls, shop dummies, gelth, slitheen, the works -- I...I love you.”  Her voice cracked and she trembled slightly.  It was vulnerable and raw and so very Rose.  His chest squeezed tight and heat flushed through him until he thought he might regenerate from the overwhelming emotions he tried so hard to deny.

But in the dark, after sharing his pain, adventures, fears, daleks, aliens and possibly death, he realized how much a coward he’d been.  Always a coward him...except he didn’t want to be with her.  Before he could reason why it was a bad idea, he spoke.

“I love you too.”

She released a breath and muttered, “Thank god!  I was worried it was just me.” She giggled again and all his admonishments to keep his distance fled.  “I know that wasn’t easy to say.  Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“Can I keep hold of your arse a bit longer?  It’s been on my mind for a bit.”

A chuckle bubbled up.  “Can’t deny you anything.”  He felt her smile through his jumper and the universe felt a little lighter and possibly less doomed.  “They’ve stopped.  He pulled out  his sonic.  “No more signal.”

“So do we risk it and have a look?” she asked.  “I mean I just told you I loved you and the universe didn’t implode.  I’d say we’re on a roll.”

“I’d never allow it.”  He unlocked the door and cracked open the door.  Nthing moved outside and the prickly energy sensation was gone.

“Never allow what?” Rose asked as she stumbled out of the armoire with his hand on her arm to steady her.

“The universe to implode, not with you in it.”

They paused and stared at each other before she grabbed him by the lapels and snogged him senseless.  Not that he didn’t take full advantage to dart a taste of his favorite companion.

“Thank you.  Now let’s make sure the whatever is gone and tell the kids they’re safe.”

“Rose, this is Earth, it’s never safe.  He kissed her forehead and the two finished walking through the house, missing a certain blue eyed captain hiding in a closet with a remote control device and a vortex manipulator on his wrist.

“Never underestimate a former Time Agent on a mission of love,” he muttered and disappeared in a flash.

 

 


End file.
